Keep the Buffalo Bills out of Toronto

With the passing of Ralph Wilson Jr, the Buffalo Bills are a franchise with an uncertain future. In the coming days and months many rumors will spread. One such rumor that has already found life is that the Buffalo Bills franchise will be moved north of the border to Toronto.

I am starting this petition to keep this storied franchise in Orchard Park and out of Toronto. I am doing this as both a Buffalo Bills season ticket holder and as a sports fan who lives an hour north of Toronto.

Toronto sports teams are steeped in a culture of losing, in fact there was a night school course once offered entitled “Toronto and the Art of Losing".

The current sports team owners are emboldened by a fan base that continually accepts being over charged while being provided with nothing more than pedestrian, mediocre teams on the field, court and ice.

These teams, often found in the lower rungs of their respective divisions and conferences, try to pass themselves off as 'professional', while each year they spew the same rhetoric that they must improve and will improve when they fail to make the playoffs.

For those who have tailgated at a Buffalo Bills game, you are already aware of the atmosphere that makes it one of the best tailgate parties in the NFL. For those who haven't I suggest you add it to your bucket list as you are truly missing out on one of the most exciting traditions in all of sports.

The tailgate truly makes the game day experience. Ontario's draconian liquor laws would extinguish any such atmosphere and effectivley end a football tradition.

Look no further than the Bills/Toronto Series which by all accounts is a failed business venture. Although it was proposed with good intentions, ultimately it was doomed from the start. High ticket prices, no true tailgate party, thousands of empty seats and a neutral fan base lead to it being suspended this year and the game being returned to Ralph Wilson Stadium.

I know those in favor will say that if it was Toronto's team it would be different, but ask yourself if that's really true or just wishful thinking? History would suggest its wishful thinking.

I ask that you sign this petition to keep the Buffalo Bills out of Toronto and in Orchard Park, where they belong.